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Walks
in Edinburgh.

It’s 01:40 in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh

Seven hills and a river path.

Edinburgh is a city for walking, and it's said to be built on seven hills. Climb an old volcano in the royal park for views over the Forth, follow the Water of Leith through a milling village to the sea, or head out to the Pentlands for a proper hill. There are wooded ridges and old estates on the edges of town, and the great park of the Meadows on the south side. Bring a jacket, as the wind can surprise you.

Dean Village→
Water of Leith→
Johnnie Walker Princes Street→
Holyrood Park→
The Meadows→
Blackford Hill and the Braid Hills→
Craiglockhart Hill→
Corstorphine Hill→
Allermuir Hill→
Arthur’s Seat→
Cammo Estate→
Calton Hill→
Walk of the day17 minutes ago

Corstorphine Hill.

A wooded ridge 161 metres high on the west of Edinburgh, with Walter Scott's memorial tower on top and the zoo on its southern slopes.

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LunchJust nowEdinburghFortitude Coffee100 yardsEdinburghMoss200 yardsEdinburghSmith & Gertrude200 yards

Lunch near Stockbridge’s High Street.

The three closest tables: Fortitude Coffee, Moss and Smith & Gertrude.

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WalksJust now

Dean Village.

A milling village of the 1100s on the Water of Leith, a few minutes' walk from the West End, now a quiet cluster of old stone houses by the river.

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StayJust nowEdinburghOld Town Chambers800 yardsEdinburghMoment George IV Bridge0.6 milesEdinburghWest End Muse1.2 miles

Stay near Calton Hill.

The three good places closest to it: Old Town Chambers, Moment George IV Bridge and West End Muse.

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Did you knowJust now

A riot started in St Giles' because a woman threw her stool at the preacher.

In 1637 Charles I made St Giles' a cathedral and had a new prayer book read in it, which was not a small thing: it was the king telling Scotland how to worship. The story goes that a local woman named Jenny Geddes picked up her stool and threw it at the preacher, and that the riot began there. What came out of it came fast. Within a year the National Covenant was being signed a few minutes' walk away at Greyfriars, and the country was on its way to war.

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WalksJust now

Water of Leith.

Edinburgh's river, followed by a 12-mile walkway from Balerno through Colinton, the Dean Village and Stockbridge to the sea at Leith.

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From our collectionsA collectionJust nowEdinburghCorstorphine HillEdinburghThe MeadowsEdinburghAllermuir HillEdinburghCalton HillEdinburghHolyrood ParkEdinburghDean VillageEdinburghWater of LeithEdinburghBlackford Hill and the Braid HillsEdinburghCraiglockhart HillEdinburghArthur’s Seat

The Best Walks in Edinburgh

You can walk out of the middle of Edinburgh and be on a hill within half an hour, which very few cities can offer. From riverside paths to volcanic summits, these are the walks worth doing.

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Johnnie Walker Princes Street.

Johnnie Walker's eight-floor home on Princes Street, in the old House of Fraser building, with whisky tours and a rooftop bar looking at the castle.

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Holyrood Park.

The royal park beside the Palace of Holyroodhouse: Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, three lochs and a ruined chapel, in the middle of the city.

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The Meadows.

The great park on the south side of the Old Town, once the Burgh Loch, crossed by tree-lined walks and a path through a whale's jawbones.

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Blackford Hill and the Braid Hills.

One of Edinburgh's seven hills, rising above the wooded glen of the Hermitage of Braid, with the Royal Observatory's domes by its summit.

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Craiglockhart Hill.

Two wooded summits in south-west Edinburgh, Easter and Wester Craiglockhart, with a pond of 1887 and a nature reserve on the eastern hill.

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